Bitmine increased its ETH holdings by 71,179 coins last week, Tom Lee suggests crypto bear market may end when oil-price risk peaks

**Bitmine Says Total Holdings Hit $10.7B Amid Iran War; Accelerates ETH Buys** Bitmine announced today that as of 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on March 29, 2026, the total value of its cryptocurrency holdings, cash, and the high-risk, high-return "Moonshot Project" has reached $10.7 billion. The breakdown includes: - 4,732,082 ETH - 197 BTC - A $200 million investment in Beast Industries - A $1.02 billion stake in Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) - $9.61 billion in cash Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee noted that with the Iran War entering its fifth week, both ETH and cryptocurrencies have outperformed the broader market—ETH beating stocks by 1160 basis points. This contrasts sharply with traditional store-of-value asset gold, which has lagged by over 750 basis points. *"Cryptocurrencies are proving to be a solid 'wartime' store of value,"* he said. Lee added that the negative correlation between cryptocurrencies (and stocks) and oil has strengthened, now at its highest level in the past year. *"That makes sense,"* he explained. *"Until the stock market is comfortable with oil's future trajectory, rising oil prices will act as a headwind for both stocks and crypto. In a way, when the risk of oil price hikes peaks, the crypto winter may be coming to an end."* Lee noted Bitmine has maintained an accelerated pace of ETH purchases over the past four weeks, as its core thesis holds that ETH is in the final stage of a "mini crypto winter." *"Over the past week, we acquired 71,179 ETH—up from a weekly average of 45,000 to 50,000 ETH previously,"* he said.